Aditya Chopra

Aditya Chopra (; born 21 May 1971) is an Indian filmmaker, studio executive, producer and film distributor who mainly works in Indian cinema. Currently serving as the Chairman and Managing Director of Yash Raj Films, founded by his father Yash Chopra, he has produced several successful films under this banner and has established himself as one of the leading producers of Indian cinema.Yash Raj Films
Yash Raj Films. Retrieved on 21 November 2015. He is also known for writing and directing '' Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge'' (1995), ''Mohabbatein'' (2000) and ''Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi'' (2008).

Early life

Chopra, the elder son of the late filmmaker Yash Chopra and Pamela Chopra, was born on 21 May 1971.Aditya Chopra Announces New Film on Yash Chopras Birth Anniversary – NDTV Movies
Movies.ndtv.com (26 September 2015). Retrieved on 21 November 2015. He completed his formal education and acquired his Indian Certificate of Secondary Education from Bombay Scottish School. He graduated from Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics along with Anil Thadani, Karan Johar (who is his first cousin) and Abhishek Kapoor.

Filmmaking career

Chopra started his film-making career at the age of 18 as an assistant director, working with his father on films such as '' Chandni'' (1989), ''Lamhe'' (1991) and ''Darr'' (1993). He also wrote his first screenplays for his father's ''Parampara'' (1992) and his mother's independently produced film ''Aaina'' (1993), which was the only film not directed by his father that he served as an assistant director on. Chopra, after gaining a respectable amount of experience, started independently at the age of 23 with the all-time blockbuster '' Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge'', with Shahrukh Khan and Kajol, for which he was the director and writer. The film was scripted by Chopra and produced by his father Yash Chopra, under the YRF banner. Chopra started work on the script of the film in 1990, at the age of 19, and gradually spent time making about five drafts of the film's original script. Chopra even managed to convince his brother Uday Chopra and cousin Karan Johar, both aspiring filmmakers, to enter the film industry as assistant directors with the film. Chopra once said that the presence of his relatives during the making of the film worked as a huge emotional support. ''Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge'' eventually went on to become one of the biggest hits of all time and won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.

Yash Raj Films

Chopra eventually went on to write the dialogues and the story of his father's 1997 blockbuster ''Dil To Pagal Hai'', (which won the National Award), also made under YRF. His next film as a director was ''Mohabbatein'' with Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan which gave the yesteryear star a new life in his film career, and also launched his brother Uday Chopra into the film industry. The film was also written and co-produced by Chopra and fared very well at the box office. The next film under the banner was ''Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai'', in June 2002 which also starred his brother Uday alongside Tulip Joshi, Bipasha Basu and Jimmy Sheirgill. The film did moderately well at the box office. The studio's final release that year was '' Saathiya'' in December 2002 which starred Vivek Oberoi opposite Rani Mukerji.

2004 breakthrough

In 2004, Chopra produced '' Hum Tum'', ''Dhoom'' and '' Veer Zaara'' (for which he was also the screenwriter) under the YRF banner. All three films went on to become critical and commercial blockbusters, earning more than (unadjusted for inflation) in the worldwide market. The films became the seventh, fourth and highest-grossing Indian films of 2004. The company won most of the Indian film awards in the year, with ''Veer Zaara'' also winning the National Award. This was considered a major breakthrough for this film producing company and cemented its position as the leader of the Indian Entertainment for the following decades, to date.

Chopra then produced and wrote several other highly commercial and critically acclaimed films over the years, namely ''Bunty Aur Babli'', ''Salaam Namaste'', '' Fanaa'', ''Dhoom 2'' and '' Chak De India'' (which also won the National Award). Chopra also made his third film as a director in 2008 with ''Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi'' starring Shahrukh Khan and launching newcomer Anushka Sharma. The film became the highest-grossing film for Shahrukh Khan and YRF at that time, grossing in the worldwide market. These films established them as one of the most powerful film production companies in Indian cinema, giving Aditya Chopra an estimated net worth of (trade and stock market estimate) and making Chopra one of the most influential people in the country.

YRF launched a number of budding screenwriters and directors under their banner throughout these years. Directors and screenwriters such as Karan Johar (his '' Kuch Kuch Hota Hai'' was co-produced and released by Yash Raj Film Distributors), Kunal Kohli, Kabir Khan, Sanjay Gadhvi, Jaideep Sahni, Siddharth Anand, Shimit Amin, Habib Faisal, Shaad Ali, Maneesh Sharma and Vijay Acharya debuted under YRF and have gone on to become independent entities in films. The company also produced films for filmmakers such as Anil Mehta and Pradeep Sarkar under their banner. The company was eventually ranked at Number 1 (among the most successful film production companies in India) in a survey conducted by Filmfare and at Number 27 (among the most successful film production companies in the world) in a survey by ''The Hollywood Reporter'', both under the vice-chairmanship of Chopra.

Return to film direction: ''Befikre'' (2016)

In September 2015, YRF announced Chopra's directorial comeback, titled '' Befikre'', scheduled for a December 2016 release. In October 2015, it was announced that Ranveer Singh and Vaani Kapoor would be cast in the lead roles. In December 2015, YRF announced that the music of the film will be produced by Vishal–Shekhar and Jaideep Sahni, both of whom would return to collaborate with YRF after roughly 9 years. This would mark Chopra's directorial comeback after roughly 8 years (his ''Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi'' released in 2008). A theatrical trailer of the film was released at the Eiffel Tower and across social media platforms in the month of October. The film was budgeted at (including P&A) and released across 2900 screens worldwide on 9 December 2016. It opened to widespread negative reviews across platforms and faced heavy losses to its business because of the currency demonetisation implied by the Government of India a few days prior to its release. The film managed to gross after a two-week theatrical run at the global box office failing to manage break-even business for YRF.

Other works

YRF Studios

Upon realising the lack of a proper film shooting studio during their years of film-making, YRF went on build their dream film production studio in the year 2005, located in Mumbai city. The first film to be shot in YRF Studios was the company's 2006 critical and commercial blockbuster '' Fanaa''. Some of the notable films of outside banners that were shot in the studio over the years are; ''Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna'' (2006), '' Partner'' (2007), ''Taare Zameen Par'' (2007), '' Dostana'' (2008), '' Wanted'' (2009), ''3 Idiots'' (2009), '' My Name Is Khan'' (2010), ''Dabangg'' (2010), '' Bodyguard'' (2011), '' Ra.One'' (2011), '' Agneepath'' (2012), '' Chennai Express'' (2013), '' Jai Ho'' (2014) and '' P.K.'' (2014). The studio was created and designed by Chopra and his then wife, Payal Khanna and is equipped with high technology film shooting equipment and materials. The studio, sprawling over and towering up to six floors, is used to shoot films for the company and is also rented for other filming and television shoots such as ''10 Ka Dum'' and ''Kaun Banega Crorepati'' for Sony and ''Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain'', '' Koffee With Karan'' and ''Satyamev Jayate'' for STAR.

YRF Home Entertainment

Apart from film production, Chopra's YRF also distributed (theatrical, home entertainment and satellite) and canvassed a wide variety of Independent films that came out of the Parallel Cinema industry of India, such as '' Godmother'' (1999), ''Zubeidaa'' (2001), ''Maqbool'' (2004), '' Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities'' (2004), ''Black'' (2005), ''My Brother Nikhil'' (2005), '' Mangal Pandey: The Rising'' (2005) and ''Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara'' (2005), that helped them leverage with a powerful film production house such as his, and thereby reach a wider audience on their release. YRF Distributors also released several big-budgeted films such as '' Kuch Kuch Hota Hai'' (1998), '' Biwi No.1'' (1999), '' Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai'' (2000), ''Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham'' (2001), ''Koi Mil Gaya'' (2003), ''Kal Ho Naa Ho'' (2003), ''Krrish'' (2006) and ''Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna'' (2006). In 2013, the company's distribution leg reportedly sold the satellite rights of its highly anticipated venture ''Dhoom 3'' for . to Sony Entertainment Television.

YRF Music

After constantly delivering musical successes such as ''Darr'', '' Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge'' and ''Dil To Pagal Hai'' throughout the years of its existence, the company decided to leverage on their growing clout in the music industry. YRF established their independent feature music distribution leg under the name YRF Music in 2004. The leg was developed for the purpose of digital as well as physical distribution of all the film soundtracks released under the banner. The first soundtrack to be distributed under YRF Music was the company's critical and commercial musical blockbuster '' Veer Zaara''. The leg established careers of many budding music composers throughout the years, who leveraged themselves by scoring music for YRF projects such as Jatin–Lalit (''Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge''), Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy (''Bunty Aur Babli''), Pritam (''Dhoom''), Vishal–Shekhar (''Salaam Namaste''), Salim–Sulaiman (''Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi''), Amit Trivedi (''Ishaqzaade''), Ram Sampath (''Luv Ka The End''), Sajid–Wajid (''Daawat-e-Ishq''), Sohail Sen (''Mere Brother Ki Dulhan''), Raghu Dixit (''Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge''), Sachin–Jigar (''Shuddh Desi Romance'') and Amartya Rahut (''Aurangzeb'').

Walt Disney buyout-refusal

The Walt Disney Company entered Indian Entertainment in 2007 through a three-film co-production agreement (''Ta Ra Rum Pum'', ''Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic'' and ''Roadside Romeo'') with YRF. Disney's move was seen as a bid to increase its global clout and finally enter the increasingly lucrative Indian Cinema arena. The company offered a 49% acquisition of YRF at (unadjusted for inflation) in 2009, which took the valuation of the Indian entertainment company to , at the time. YRF however declined the acquisition offer made by the American conglomerate.

In 2011, a 99% share acquisition offer by Disney was accepted by UTV at (unadjusted for inflation). The two companies together established Disney UTV, that functioned as the Indian subsidiary of the American company. In December 2016, Disney announced that is restructuring its Indian operations and UTV will no longer produce movies and will focus only on distribution of its Hollywood films.

As vice-chairman

The company saw an all-time low, with several of their high budgeted films not doing well at the box office, despite favourable critical reviews and the company thereby suffering losses amounting to millions from 2007 to 2010. The films broke YRF's perfect success ratio and were oddly released one after another. Some of the most unsuccessful films produced under the banner were ''Jhoom Barabar Jhoom'', ''Laaga Chunari Mein Daag'', '' Tashan'', ''Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic'', ''Roadside Romeo'', and ''Pyaar Impossible''. Chopra then took over as the Vice Chairman of Yash Raj Films in 2010, soon after the release of the film ''Badmaash Company'' under the same banner.

2011 landmark deal

In 2011, the company took the critical decision of banking on the successes of ''3 Idiots'', '' Ra.One'' and '' Bodyguard'' and went into production of three individual mainstream films with Aamir Khan for ''Dhoom 3'' (for which Chopra wrote the story), Shahrukh Khan for ''Jab Tak Hai Jaan'' (for which Chopra wrote the story, screenplay and dialogue) and with Salman Khan for ''Ek Tha Tiger'' (for which Chopra wrote the story) the first installment in the YRF Spy Universe, a feat that has never been achieved by any film production company to date. The move was seen as a landmark deal by YRF as it engaged three of the most successful box office actors of Indian Cinema in independent projects at the time. Moreover, the three films turned out to be the most expensive productions by YRF; ''Ek Tha Tiger'' was produced at , ''Jab Tak Hai Jaan'' was produced at and ''Dhoom 3'' was produced at .

All three of these films shattered box office records of India and went on to become some of the highest-grossing films of their time. ''Ek Tha Tiger'', which released on the 66th Independence Day of India, earned approximately and thereby became the eleventh highest-grossing film of Indian Cinema.''Jab Tak Hai Jaan'' opened worldwide on the Diwali day of 2012 and went on to earn and became the fifteenth highest-grossing film in India. ''Dhoom 3'' released in (Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Arabic) on the Christmas week of 2013 and grossed approximately , in the worldwide market and went on to become the twelfth highest-grossing film of Indian cinema, .

As chairman

After the demise of his father Yash Chopra in October 2012, Aditya Chopra was elevated to the position of chairman and Chief Executive of the company's studio wing. The company went for a soft-launch on 3 January 2013.

The company received angel investment by institutional fund-raisers such as LIC of India, RNT Associates, PremjiInvest, Catamaran Ventures, Maruti Udyog and Unilazer Ventures. YRF was made open to Indian enterprises only and no FDI was accepted. Venture capitalists also showed interest with Adi Godrej, Y. C. Deveshwar, Kumar Birla, Arundhati Bhattacharya, Anand Mahindra, Chanda Kochhar, Sunil Mittal, Shikha Sharma and Uday Kotak investing undisclosed sums. YRF came out with more films, under the chairmanship of Chopra and the new management.

Work with newcomers (Talent Management)

Apart from producing big-budgeted films with established actors, YRF also announced several films featuring relative newcomers in the fourth quarter of Fiscal year 2012; '' Aurangzeb'' starring Prithviraj Sukumaran, Sashaa Agha and Arjun Kapoor, ''Gunday'' starring Ranveer Singh, ''Bewakoofiyan'' starring Ayushmann Khurrana and Sonam Kapoor, ''Daawat-e-Ishq'' with Aditya Roy Kapoor, ''Mardaani'' with Rani Mukerji and ''Kill Dil'' starring Ali Zafar and Govinda. The films released all through 2013 and 2014 were seen as a strategic move by the company to infuse newer talent into Indian cinema in the form of actors, screenwriters, directors and technicians. In a bid to break away from the traditional star system of Indian cinema, the company ventured into producing low-budgeted independent films with new talent (actors, creatives and technicians) from 2008. Apart from working with upcoming actors, the company independently launched several new faces as leading actors in several of their big-budgeted films through their home banner and through Y-Films, including:

YRF Entertainment

Sensing a keen following of Indian cinema in Japan during the Festival de Cannes, YRF Studios decided to re-release ''Ek Tha Tiger'' on 8 March 2013 and ''Jab Tak Hai Jaan'' on 20 April 2013 in an association with The Nikkatsu Corporation. The deal was further extended to the release of ''Dhoom 3'' on 25 December 2013 during the MAMI Film Festival.

In a bid to strengthen their foothold in the United States and the European market, the company established its international film producing leg; YRF Entertainment, which was solely focused on production and financing of international film content. The first film to independently release under the banner was the 2012 romantic comedy '' The Longest Week'' which starred Olivia Wilde, Jason Bateman and Billy Crudup. The film did moderately well in the worldwide box office and managed to break-even.

The next film to be released under YRF Entertainment is '' The Grace of Monaco'' starring Nicole Kidman and Tim Roth. The film is co-produced by Arash Amel. Primary filming of the project is complete and the film is slated for a March 2014 release. The company also announced its maiden Anglo-Indian film project that would be co-produced by Mira Nair under the Mirabai Films banner and directed by Shimit Amin. In 2013, the company also announced its next venture, ''Seducing Ingrid Bergman'' based on the life of Ingrid Bergman, written by Chris Greenhalgh and Arash Amel.

YRF South

YRF forayed into regional Indian film production in 2013, with ''Aaha Kalyanam'', a remake of their 2010 critical and commercial blockbuster '' Band Baaja Baaraat'' starring Nani and debutant Vaani Kapoor. The Tamil-Telugu bilingual project would be directed by Gokul Krishna and produced by Chopra. YRF plans to launch both the lead actress and director with this film. The untitled film completed the first schedule of its principal photography in Chennai in May 2013, with the next two schedules to be held in Hyderabad and Mysore in July 2013. Moreover, the studio also released Tamil and Telugu versions of its ''Dhoom 3'' for the South Indian market. The company plans to deliver remakes from its existing catalog as well as new and original regional content (in Tamil and Telugu), but also content that is set to break into other regional film markets (Malayalam and Tulu) of the south.

Tie-ups

Throughout the years of its existence, YRF inked various strategic business agreements with independent film and media entities present in the country.

Career as studio executive

He is also the current Chairman of India's multi-national film, media, and entertainment conglomerate Yash Raj Films (YRF), becoming the second person to hold that position in the company's history after Sanjeev Kohli.Aditya Chopra Announces New Film on Yash Chopras Birth Anniversary – NDTV Movies
Movies.ndtv.com (26 September 2015). Retrieved on 21 November 2015. Chopra has produced several commercially viable projects including off-beat content not necessarily fitting into the realm of "masala films". Chopra is the first to move towards the film studio model through independent projects helmed by talent under his banner. Major post-production work of the company is completed at YRF Studios (co-founded by his ex-wife Payal Khanna), where Chopra serves as Chief Executive.YRF Studios. Retrieved on 21 November 2015.
/ref> In December 2009, Chopra fought a $3.7 billion hostile takeover bid by Disney, post its acquisitions of Pixar and Marvel. YRF continued as a domestic entity aided by the Tata Sons, as Disney acquired UTV at $500 million.http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/walt-disney-offers-to-acquire-utv-for-about-rs-2000-crore/822896 . Disney. Retrieved on 12 April 2020. This was followed by the exits of Dick Cook from DisneyDeadline. Retrieved on 21 November 2021.
/ref>SlashFilm. Retrieved on 27 November 2021.
/ref>GeeksofDoom. Retrieved on 29 November 2021.
/ref> and Sanjeev Kohli from YRF.YRF Studios. Retrieved on 25 November 2021.
/ref>ITV. Retrieved on 26 November 2021.
/ref> In January 2019, YRF reached a $9.1 billion valuation by SEBI, thereby making it the largest film production company in the history of Indian Cinema; Disney exited all Indian film operations and was liquidated the same year.

Apart from emerging as an equitable brand, his company earned the status of a movie mogul through distribution networks spread across the globe.Yash Raj Films
Yash Raj Films. Retrieved on 21 November 2015. Having denied him admission into the NSD due to his severe stammering as a young applicant, the Film Division of India eventually honored him with the National Award for his achievements in 1995, 2005, 2007 and 2015. The Government of India appealed both Chopra and Mani Ratnam to focus on content created locally under its Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives. In June 2018, he was awarded membership into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences by the Producers Guild of America. In May 2020, Chopra refused licensing deals with Amazon, Netflix, and with Apple TV+ opting for traditional film exhibition. YRF finalised plans to launch its own OTT service with Tata ELXSI the same year.

Legal issues

''Ghajini''

Photographers of the Indian media caught a glimpse of the extremely reclusive Chopra on 27 December 2008. Chopra's ''Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi'' and Aamir Khan's '' Ghajini'' were the two big Indian releases of the year 2008 and were pitted against each other by the Press; Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi was to release on Diwali and ''Ghajini'' was to release on Christmas, with a gap of a few weeks between them. Chopra was present at a private screening of ''Ghajini'' that was held by Khan, for members of the film industry. Chopra was seen leaving through the back entrance of the theatre premise around 2 AM, just before the end credits of the film. On spotting multiple journalists outside the venue, he reportedly panicked and desperately sprinted towards his car to avoid being photographed. Chopra pulled down the sun visor of his car and hid inside it as he drove away. He even dropped his phone and damaged it, in the process. Images of a scared and petrified Chopra covering his face with his arms became front-page news of a leading Indian tabloid. The article called Chopra ''a very powerful man, behaving like a trapped animal'', even though it carried a statement by "one of his close friends" who called him ''a simple, introverted guy''. The event however fuelled further reports of Chopra having an alleged social anxiety disorder and/or APD.

''Son of Sardar''

In 2012, Ajay Devgan, Viacom 18 Motion Pictures and Eros International together moved the Competition Commission of India against Yash Raj Films and Aditya Chopra, accusing the company of using monopolistic business practices and rampantly abusing their dominant position and clout in the Entertainment Industry of India by entering into a tie-in arrangement with 1,500 single screen film exhibitors (out of a total of 2,100) of India, that obliged them to showcase the company's ''Jab Tak Hai Jaan'' (and not '' Son of Sardar'') on the Diwali week of 2012 and continue its theatrical run for two weeks after the worldwide release. The trio eventually moved the Competition Appellate Tribunal on 30 October 2012 against YRF but were turned down by the bench heading the Tribunal.

Both films opened on 13 November 2012; ''Jab Tak Hai Jaan'' released on 3500 screens and ''Son of Sardar'' released on 2000 screens, in the worldwide market. However, in November 2013, the CCI dismissed the case filing as they found YRF to not be in contravention of the Competition Act of India; YRF won the case.

''Raees''

'' Raees'' was a film produced by Excel Entertainment and Red Chillies Entertainment helmed by Rahul Dholakia

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